


To The Victor, The Spoils. If They Can Be Tamed

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: Marvel (Movies), Norse Mythology, Thor (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Always a girl! Thor, F/M, Forced Bonding, Forced Relationship, Jotunheim Won the War, Mildly Dubious Consent, Peace Agreements, Thor was sold for peace, War, Warning: Loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-14
Updated: 2012-06-10
Packaged: 2017-11-05 09:00:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/404621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The War between Jotunheim and Asgard didn't go as predicted and Odin was killed. Laufey offers peace if Frigga hands over her only daughter, Thora as the spoils of war, when she comes of age. </p><p>Frigga agrees and Asgard is spared. Thora knows that it is her good behaviour in Jotunheim that will ensure Asgard's safety. She will endure, but she won't break.</p><p>Loki Laufeysson, the Crown Prince of Jotunheim, is only interested in gaining Asgard and somehow falls upon the idea that maybe having Thora Odinsdottir around will be the means to do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Debt Is To Be Collected Now

**Author's Note:**

> Again, I had this idea after reading quite a few stories where Loki is the spoil of war handed over to Asgard for good behaviour. That got me curious as to how it would be if all the tables got turned and a female Thor was handed over to Jotunheim as a spoil of war instead. How would she behave and would she succeed in getting some kind of agency and some sort relationship with Loki. So here is the story. 
> 
> My Thora is always red-haired as per the usual mythological descriptions of Thor. I've honestly haven't seen him portrayed as blond until I came across the comics.

Loki

He had just finished the hated warrior training he grudgingly did as was expected of him and was going back to his chambers to get clean when one of his father's messengers stops him.

"Your Lord Father wishes to inform you to get ready to travel to Asgard and must dress appropriately."

Loki's eyes widened at this, but he only nodded and continued on his way, pretending that he was fully aware of the reason for his father's summons. In fact, it was the opposite. The only reason he could think of was that he was grooming his Crown Prince as a diplomat, rather than the actual heir of the throne.

Loki's fists clenched at his side, tight enough for his nails to draw blood until he was able to reign in his temper and slowly uncurl his fists. He muttered a spell and the wounds were gone, but the agony and shame of his father's deceit wasn't going away as fast.

It wasn't his fault that he had been born a runt and the first and last child of Farbauti. His father had never really forgiven him for that one, he supposed that was also part of the resentment that was mired with the embarrassment of having such an undersized and weak giant as his firstborn and heir.

Loki gritted his teeth then and stalked into his bathroom. He would show him. When the time was right, he would show him and the court what he could do. He would show them that strength wasn't just a matter of size and muscle, but also of wits and words.

It was cold comfort at the moment, but it would have to do. He couldn't afford to be off when he was with his father. Especially not if they were traveling to that place.

Asgard. Even thinking about it made irritation crawl up his spine and into his brain.

He had only been a baby when the War had broken out between Jotunheim and Asgard. It had been a hard and ugly battle and he only knew that he had escaped being taken by one of his father's Guard.

It had been during that battle that Odin had fallen, felled by Laufey's own blade on the steps of the ruined palace that had been razed to the ground once victory had been declared.

Loki wished he could have seen it all happening. How his father had accorded the enemy's fallen the proper honours and had been at the back of the Asgardian troops that had carried their king's bloodstained body back to Asgard and to his Queen and daughter.

Loki's eyes widened and he nearly slipped into the tub full of lukewarm water.

How could he have been such a short-sighted fool?

He wasn't being dragged to Asgard to behave like a diplomat. He was being taken there to finish the treaty that his father and the Asgardian Queen had hammered out to stop the hostilities once Odin had fallen.

She could have continued the war, but their men and resources were running out and she still had her daughter at her breast. So they had agreed that when her daughter had come of age, Laufey and his eldest would come for her.

Loki had to admit that was one of the most ruthless things that his father could have done to the Asgardians.

Frigga would never marry again and the daughter was the only child that had been produced from her union with Odin. She would have been the heir to the throne. But now, she would be nothing of that kind. A prisoner on whose good behaviour the fate of Asgard depended on.

And maybe, just maybe, she would be the way for Laufey to gain control of the Asgardian throne.

He had to admit that it was a diabolically clever plan and even though he sometimes hated his father, he had to admit that he certainly was able to run the long game to near flawless perfection.

Yes. He hated his father, but at times like this, he couldn’t help but to admire him.

And learn from him so that when the time came, he would be able to play him and gain the throne and all the respect that he deserved.

Thora

Thora couldn't speak as she watched the maids working to make her look as beautiful as she possibly could be.

Even though they were all aware that the Jotunn had a different standards of beauty, her mother had decreed that making Thora look her best surely wouldn't hurt their case any.

The dress that they had put her in was heavy wool, a royal blue that would contrast with the flame-red of her hair, which was simply swept back behind a silver and sapphire tiara and tumbled down her back in loose curls.

The dress was tight and showed off quite a bit of breast, hip and thigh without revealing much flesh. On top of this, a heavy fur cloak to keep her warm. Her face was scrubbed clean and she only wore heavy pendant earrings with moonstones set in the silver.

Thora wanted to move and rip everything off and dress in her hunting leathers. She hated being dressed up and she hated the fact that she was only being put in such rich clothes so that she'd be a better piece of chattel.

She had known, ever since she had been old enough to understand, that she was the price that was paid for peace. She would, when she came of age, go to Jotunheim. Asgard's well-being would depend on her good behaviour.

She wriggled and was chastised for the movement, making her sigh and recall the last words of wisdom her mother had imparted on her just that morning.

"Remember, no matter what happens. You are my daughter. You are your father's daughter. You are Asgard. Never forget that and you will be able to bear anything over in Jotunheim."

Frigga had reminded Thora. Her eyes had been full of tears and she could only press a kiss to her daughter’s forehead before handing Thora off to the maids to get ready.

And now, it was nearly done and Thora was afraid.

What would they do to her, once they were in Jotunheim? Would they simply keep her a prisoner? Or would they use her as a bed warmer, bearing bastard half-breeds until she finally expired in childbirth? Which one would it be?

She didn't dare hope that she could rise to be a beloved mistress or a consort. She had seen the Jotun women and she had known, with a sinking feeling, that she couldn't compete.

They were pale, an icy blue that made them look ethereal. Their hair was long and a dark indigo that was almost black and their bodies were graceful and slender. No. She couldn't compete and she had resigned herself to being either a prisoner or a whore. Nothing more.

She just hoped that she would have the strength to endure whatever it was that they would do to her and not give in.

Thora had just made that promise to herself before the maid moved back, after positioning the heavy silver and sapphire girdle around her hips and Thora stepped off the dias she had been standing on.

A messenger opened the door at that moment and the look on his face is a mixture of relief and guilt. Everyone knew what was to happen to her, but no one dared to say anything on her behalf. Although it incensed her, she knew she would probably do the same.

"The Queen and the Court are waiting for you, Princess."

He said to her, holding out his hand to escort her. Thora nodded and took the proffered hand.

Even though she was terrified, she would meet her fate with her head held high. No one would then say that Thora Odinsdottir was a coward.


	2. Personifying the Price of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki finally meets the Spoils of Asgard and the seed of his machinations are planted, while Thora shows that she's simply not a relic to be locked away.

_Loki_

 

He tugged only once at the collar of his deep green and gold ensemble, careful to not let his father see how uncomfortable he was in the Asgardian robes. He envied his father again, for the fact that he could go as himself to Asgard, but he had to be dressed up in the clothes of their vanquished enemies.

 

He understood the need. After all, he knew that if he were in the opposite situation, that he’d appreciate it more if the victors at least made the effort of respecting his world’s customs. But that didn’t mean that he liked wearing the heavy clothing that the Asgardians favoured. It was simply too much and already, he was starting to feel the need to tear it all off and go find his usual furs and simple tunics that his people favoured.

 

But he kept his face carefully expressionless and followed his father down to the throne room, where the Queen and all her courtiers were standing.

 

He hated to admit it, but Asgard's palace was impressive. It was a golden dream of beautiful architecture and aesthetically pleasing lines. This was what a palace should be.

 

Jotunheim was beautiful, but in a different way. It was beautiful in the dim green twilight, the ice clear in some areas and dark blue in others. But it wasn't alive.

 

It was the perfect symbol of longevity. Of eternity.

 

Asgard was the symbol of vivid vitality.

 

He found that he wanted to hold it and never let it go. To have it warm him from the inside out and thaw all the places inside of him that frozen throughout the centuries.

 

He wanted it all. More than the castle and world that was his home. 

 

He made a mental note to see as much of it as he possibly could once he was able to be by himself and not have to worry about breaching any diplomatic protocols. But as with the courtiers, he needed to keep that information hidden. 

 

He needed to see the reason why he was here. 

 

Odin’s Daughter. Who was basically the spoils of the war between Jötunheim and Asgard.

 

He didn’t think of Odin’s Daughter as anything else but that.  She was part of the history of Jotunheim’s ascension. A piece of a treaty. To him, she was nothing more than a technicality and the payment of a world that had been vanquished and brought to heel. She was an abstract and maybe if he hadn’t been bound by the same laws, he would have kept her as such until it was time to bring her back to Jotunheim and see what plans his father would make her a part of.

 

His father took his due from the Queen and Loki could hear that tone of his voice changed when he answered the Queen’s formalities and presented the girl to him. Odin’s Daughter will probably not be ill-used then, Loki realizes. She must have captivated his father in some way that Loki couldn’t even begin to guess at. 

 

He was wondering what it could have been when his father pulled him forward and introduced him to the court of Asgard. Their reactions were varied, but in none of the faces did he see carefully guarded fear or disgust. He saw awe and disbelief and confirmation. A few of them nodded and he wondered if many of them had only heard the tales of him being so small and so unlike the rest of his people.

 

At that moment, he didn’t care. He only filed this away for further introspection. It was information that could be useful in time. What he did care about was trying to see what the Spoils of Asgard look like.

 

If he hadn’t had so much practice at schooling his features. he would have made a grave mistake. One that he wouldn't ever be able to recover from.

 

Odin’s Daughter was the most exotic woman he had ever laid eyes on and he had seen many in his travels and even bedded some of them. But that was where the difference lay, he could now see. She was a maiden and he was willing to bet his last emerald that Frigga fought to keep her so. She was so pure, that he could actually sense it on her, befitting her so much better than the dress that they had forced her into.

 

He wasn’t going to complain about the view, since it still showed quite a bit of how curvy and ripe she was built, without being indecent. The heavy silver belt at her hips helped accentuate that ripeness and he felt a rush of desire rise up at the sight of her body that he ruthlessly suppressed in order to take in more of her. 

 

Her hair was bright against the colour of the dress and the cloak and made a rich contrast to her pale skin and red as blood mouth. Her eyes were the dark of incoming storms and belatedly, he remembered that she was the sole heir of the famed war-hammer, Mjolnir. That would have made a decent dowry to anyone that would wed her. Even if she was the only one to wield it, she would have to submit to her mate no matter what. She was the Goddess of Thunder and during a war, that would be a heavy weapon to have in an arsenal. 

 

Again, he put that in the back of his mind for later pondering. He wanted to concentrate on the abstract becoming real in front of him. He needed her, he realized. As much as she needed him. If she was to survive his father and he was to get Asgard, they would have to work together. The girl looked innocent and trusting enough to be a pliable tool in his hands. 

 

Yes. He liked Odin’s Daughter. Now he had to figure out how to get under her skin and bend her to his will, without breaking her in the process. 

 

Hel knew that Laufey would do that very well on his own.

_Thora_

 

The King of Jötunnheim was exactly what she had expected and had seen in the tedious lessons drummed into her head. He was huge and blue and barely covered by anything that she could charitably call clothing. Looking at him made her tremble a bit inside. She hid it with a curtsey as her mother had instructed her to do. 

 

The king seemed to like that, since his eyes burned a brighter red before he gave her mother one of the most courteous greetings that he had ever given the court. She hadn’t been present during those times, but she could tell that was the case from the murmurs that went through the crowd of Asgardian courtiers. She also knew that it was because of her appearance. Her mother was a wise woman. Thora could now see why she was dressed up as she was.

 

The effect was a good one and she was thankful for it, since it meant that there could be room for advancement and comfort in Jötunnheim. Maybe in time, she could even bargain for more favourable terms for Asgard if she pleased the king of Jötunnheim well enough. Her body would be her weapon and she would wield it as skillfully as she had heard her father wielded a sword. 

 

“As you have presented your daughter to us, I shall present my son and heir. Crown Prince Loki of Jötunnheim.” Laufey continued just in time for Thora to rise up from the curtsey she had stayed in until the King had 

 

She had straightened up in time to come almost face with the most unusual Jötunn ever. 

He wasn’t massive like the rest of his people and he was built almost very much like an Asgardian. if it wasn’t for his ice-blue skin and emerald eyes, she was sure that he could pass. He was taller than her, but not by much, sinewy and had the darkest hair she had ever seen. His robes suited him well and Thora’s heart stuttered and skipped in her chest. 

 

He was still Jötunn, but he was stirring complicated feelings in her. She could see them joining together. Ruling Asgard and ensuring that her father’s legacy didn’t wither and turn to dust once her mother was gone. She didn’t love him. Even as young as she was, she had learned the lesson of love being something horrible and to be avoided at any cost.

 

She still remembered her mother weeping in her chamber in the dark of night when she was still a child and her father’s death was still fresh. She would never make that mistake. 

 

Only the good of Asgard could be important. Nothing more. 

 

She lowered her eyes then and Crown Prince Loki took a step back, neither was sure of their footing there and both dreaded making a mistake in such a public forum. 

 

“We have kept our bargain. We are giving you Odin’s Daughter and what would have been her dowry. She is yours to command as you see fit.”

 

Although she had expected the words, they still made her eyes and cheeks burn at the finality of them. She was no longer part of Asgard. No longer part of her mother’s people and no longer under her protection. 

 

It hurt, but she only held her head high as Loki offered her his arm.

 

“Shall we, Odin’s Daughter?”

 

Thora took it and turned to look at Crown Prince Loki

 

“My name is Thora, Crown Prince Loki. I am much more than my father’s daughter.”

 

She whispered, then turned red as she realized what she had just said. He could have her flayed if he wanted and she had just talked back to him. So much for thinking about her homeland! She was already acting without thinking, which was the last thing that she needed to be doing.

 

She was expecting Loki to tighten his grip on her arm, or make another covert sign of a threat, but all he did was laugh softly.

 

“You still have some spirit. That’s good. I was worried you were already broken.”

 

He murmured as they walked away from the court and onto the Bifrost, his father and the retainers following at a discreet distance to give them the illusion of privacy.

 

She stopped and looked him straight in the eye before she moved her face close to his.

 

“I am not broken and I never will be. Not by Laufey and certainly _not_ by you.”

 

In response to that, Loki only laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for taking a bit of time with this one. I've been swamped with work commitments and meetings (Yay for Academia!) and dealing with a super rough time here. But I promise to update fairly quickly, because this story has sparked my imagination severely. Thank you for your patience and your commentary! Much appreciated!


	3. Forces are starting to align

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thora is presented in Jotunheim, which doesn't go well. But Loki ends up being a comfort in the end. Loki himself is laying his plans and a request from Laufey has him wondering whether the Aesir also are playing the long con as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The court of Jotunheim was written to reflect a more Celtic tribal setting and they are more brutal, since Jotunheim values strength and hardiness. Also, I have written Thora as a bit impulsive, but she does know when to stop pushing. Loki's slightly less Machavellian here, since he is not as messed up or as practiced. So yeah, that's it.

_Loki_  
  
 He kept a hold of her throughout the whole time that she was again shown off to the court and the courtiers. But this time, the reception was harsher than the one she had been used to and Loki did pity her. She had been protected and respected, since she was the coin that was paying to keep the Jötunn away from their fields and palaces.   
  
The Jötunn were more vocal about what they thought of Thora and he had to grip her arm hard enough to bruise in order to keep her in place. He wasn’t fooled by the dress. At least not until she had proven she still had life and spirit. He knew that she was a fighter. She had shown her hand to him already. He just didn’t want anyone else seeing it before the time was right, if he wanted his plan to work.  
  
So he squeezed her arm hard until they were allowed to take their leave and Loki was commanded to take Thora to the rooms that they had designated as hers for the duration of her stay in Jötunheim.  
  
Once the maids and servants had set up her belongings and closed the door behind them, Thora wrenched her arm out of Loki’s grasp and rubbed it roughly. She glared at him for several minutes before she finally took a deep breath, exhaled and spoke.  
  
“Thank you. Despite the fact that I would have gutted anyone that would dare do that, I understand why you had to do it.” She admitted, her voice holding a grudging respect for his foresightedness.   
  
Loki was taken aback, but didn’t show it. He had been expecting for her to lose her composure and scream at him. Or worse, make him pay for all the ridicule and insults that his people had flung at her as she had been presented to the court. The Jötunn valued strength and prowess in battle over all and the chance to gloat over a defeated foe was an opportunity that none were willing to pass up so easily.  
  
Especially since the Spoils of Asgard was Thor’s Daughter and many of the ranking Jötunn had aspirations of having her as a mistress and the privilege of desecrating the treasure of Asgard over and over again. Loki had picked up all of their petty aspirations as easily as if they had been written on their faces. It was all too obvious, in the way that they looked at Thora, that was all that they thought of. None of them could think of anything else but the basest needs of their bodies and the desire to hurt simply because they could.   
  
“No sense in playing all the cards so early in the game. Even if you do want to do nothing more than fling it right back into their teeth.” Loki commented, making the statement as neutral as possible.  
  
Thora let her hands drop before she walked to the bed and removed her cloak, a look of surprise crossing her face as she realized that her rooms weren’t freezing cold as the rest of the castle.   
  
“We may not be Asgardians. We may glory in the defeat of our enemies, but we do know how to take care of the spoils of war.”   
  
He explained, his voice neutral as he took in her reaction to the stone chamber, the tapestries, the covers and the large fireplaces that were built to accommodate her. It was true that Asgard had winters, but they would pale in comparison to anything that she would experience in Jötunnheim. He wished he could take the credit in setting up the comforts of her cells. But his father was the one to commend for that and mentally, Loki gave him another point in the struggle that they were perpetually locked in.   
  
Thora bit her lip and laid her cloak onto the bed before walking over to the table at the far end and sinking down on one of the plush chairs. Once she had arranged her skirts, she gestured for Loki to sit across from her. Loki took the invitation and sat down, his eyes hooded as he calculated the ways that he would have to meet her words and parry them while turning them to some kind of weapon or advantage.  
  
“Is that how I will be seen here? A relic of war? To be kept shut up and brought out to be gloated over?”  
  
Loki’s eyebrows drew together at the blunt questions and he wondered if she would dare to address his father that way. But the darkening of her eyes told him that yes, she would.   
_  
“She’s pushing to see where you’re soft. Where she can twist the knife.”_ It was an obvious manoeuvre. One he had employed once in a while with varying degrees of success. But then, he didn’t have those intense eyes and the looks to give the words a different sort of weight to them.  
  
Loki shrugged. “I am not privy to my father’s plans. He is the king after all. You will know as soon as I do.”  
  
Thora gave a low laugh at that. “Spoken like a true courtier. Giving me an answer, but not really saying anything of value.”  
  
Loki had to stop himself from smiling. So the girl wasn’t as naive as he had originally thought. He needed something else to open her up even further.   
  
He remembered that the Aesir were quite physically demonstrative. Maybe if he touched her, it would create more intimacy than if they just spoke facing each other with distance and no contact at all.  It would also hopefully erase the forcefulness he had to employ to keep her in check.   
  
He put his bare hand on hers and gasped at the odd sensations that were drifting up into his body like weak currents. Thora felt them too, since her eyes got wide and she looked down at their joined hands.  
  
“Oh Gods!” Was all she whispered as they watched Loki’s skin losing its icy blue shade and markings, lightening to match Thora’s own Aesir colouring. They watched the colour spread up his arm and Loki knew it had hit his face when Thora made a soft noise of surprise.   
  
“What?” He asked, his voice shaking only just a tad as he wondered what he looked like without his facial markings and blue skin.  
  
Thora leaned forward and impulsively caressed his cheek, making Loki’s now green eyes widen in surprise at the warmth and gentleness of her touch. He couldn’t ever recall anyone touching him with such tenderness before and so impulsively. It also surprised him that instead of instinctively moving away or stopping the movement, he had simply let it come.   
  
“You truly look like an Aesir! I had heard that you were skilled…but this is amazing! I never knew that you could flow between shapes like this!” She breathed out, truly astounded at the handsome, dark haired and green eyed Aesir that was now sitting across from her.  
  
Loki blinked at that. So the Asgard spy network was still busy, if Thora had managed to glean information that he had taken pains to keep under wraps.  All Jötunn could perform some sort of magic, but not all of them could shape shift and bend reality as Loki had learned to do.  
  
“Has this ever happened before?” She asked as she moved her hand from her face.  
  
Loki shook his head. “I’ve never been so close to an Aesir before.”  
  
It was true. He’d never gotten close to any of their women, even. That was the realm that he treaded the most carefully in, due to knowing how much the resentment against the Jötunn festered among the people and also because as Laufey’s son, he’d be a political target if he even dared to step out alone. His skills in escaping detection weren’t as well honed as he’d like. In time, they would come. But he wasn’t going to be a fool and risk it.  
  
Her eyes flickered to their dark stormy grey and she looked like she wanted to say something else to him. Maybe something childishly naive and consoling. He didn’t need the pity of a relic, he told himself before he moved his hand from hers and watched in a convoluted mixture of dismay and relief for his Jötunn colouring and markings come flooding back.  
  
“So I am the first to have seen one of your greatest tricks, then.” Thora commented, her voice quiet as she straightened up in her chair and cast a piercing look at him.  
  
Loki smirked at her opening gambit.  
  
“Are you going to blackmail me with the knowledge?”  
  
Thora shook her head.   
  
“Even if I could use it, do you actually think that anyone would listen to me? A political hostage with very little worth until her place is decided? We both know that until your father makes the first move, I’ve got my hands tied and my people’s well-being is dependant on my good behaviour. I won’t risk that.”  
  
Loki’s eyes narrowed at this.   
  
He hadn’t thought she would have been so concerned about Asgard. He knew that he wouldn’t have bothered if he had been in the same position, being pragmatic enough to know that past life was over and done with.   
The chamber door swung open to reveal his father’s messenger, who only inclined his head in Thora’s direction before turning to look at Loki.  
  
“The Council requests your presence in regards to the Elven mission, Prince.”  
  
Loki suppressed the urge to sigh or do something equally childish and stood up.  
  
“By your leave, Odinsdottir.”  
  
Thora nodded and Loki left, his mind already racing ahead with the plans he needed to make with the knowledge he had just gained.  
  
 _Thora_  
  
Once Loki had left, she got up and started pacing her cell. Even though it was decorated richly and fit for a queen, Thora wasn't fooled. She knew it was her prison and she knew that if she ever forgot this, she’d never help Asgard be independent and strong again.  
  
She just had to figure out the best way to do it and right now, it was just like how she had told Loki. Until King Laufey gave the word, she was at a standstill. Knowing that Loki could turn into an Aesir was a moot point until she knew where she stood to implement her plan.  
  
It wasn’t elegant, or clever. But the plan that was the most feasible was to seduce Loki by dangling the throne of Asgard in front of his nose. Once they were in Asgard, he would be the consort and even though her children would be fathered by a Jötunn, she would be able to keep the throne among the line of the All-father.   
  
Besides, she had to admit that Loki made an attractive enough Aesir and out of anyone in Jötunnheim, he would be her first choice.   
  
She knew,that he was also working towards his own ends, but she could tell that he wouldn’t hurt her needlessly. Although she was inexperienced, she knew that being intimate involved pain. And she was well aware that any other Jötunn would hurt her badly and the thought made her shudder. She accepted that she would be a mistress, but being debased was not something she was fine with.  
  
Hence wishing that if anyone had to touch her that way, it would only be Loki. The question was, how to make that happen.  She also hated to admit it, but she was getting attached to the idea. If she had to endure Jötunnheim and a political marriage, she’d rather it would be with Loki.  
  
“Foolish thoughts.” She murmured to herself as she stopped and sat down on her bed. She wished she could go hunting or riding and burn off the excess energy that was plaguing her. She also wished that she wasn’t alone. Even though the conversation with Loki had been a game of strategy, it was conversation and company.  
  
She sighed and winced when the belt started to dig uncomfortably into her hips. It was a treasure, but it was also not comfortable and since she was alone and locked up, she decided to dress in her usual clothing, which was loose enough to let her have enough movement and not revealing at all.   
  
She went to one of her trunks, opened it and proceeded to look for her favourite grey dress. Once she had located it, she started to remove all of the jewellery that had been piled on her and laid it out carefully in the box her mother gave her before hiding it in the trunk. The dress was the only thing left and she took it off with alacrity, glad to be out of the restricting fit of it.   
  
She was just pulling out the dress she had been looking for-a soft grey gown, when her door was opened  and Laufey himself stepped in.  
  
He took in her near naked body and smiled, slow and menacing as he moved closer to her.  
  
“Asgard’s treasure without the wrappings is as impressive as without. I do not understand why your mother felt the need to dress you up when she could have achieved the same effect by sending you out like this.”   
  
Laufey commented as he drew closer, making Thora want to shrink away from the Jötunn and cover herself up with the gown she held. But instead, she kept her ground and looked at him straight in the eye.  
  
“My mother is a wise woman. She understood you would be overwhelmed if that has been the case.”  
  
Laufey laughed, making Thora shudder. His laugh was dark and rough and it put her in mind of ice scraping over stones.   
  
He reached out and pulled the dress away from her unresisting hands and scrutinized her. She wanted to squirm, but didn’t dare. Not until he reached out and touched her throat did she move, unable to stifle the scream that the pain of the frostbite brought her.

  
She grabbed her throat and fell to her knees as she choked and gasped in an effort to get some air into her lungs.  
  
Laufey swore and muttered a spell before he got to his knees and reached out for Thora, making the sight of his intense red eyes the last thing she remembered.  
 _  
Loki_  
  
“You summoned me, father?” Loki asked as politely as he possibly could as he entered into his father’s private chambers once he was done with the tediousness of the council meeting. It was a very rare thing for Loki to be called to a private audience with his father. The King seldom shared his plans with anyone and to share them with his heir was almost unheard of.   
  
“I have a task for you, Loki.” His father began without preamble.  
  
Loki crossed his arms and waited for his father to give him his orders.  
  
“Seduce the Aesir girl. Make her love you. Get her with child and claim the throne of Asgard on her behalf. That will be your kingdom to rule.” His father ordered, his voice as implacable and cold as a glacier.  
  
“Why can you do it? Claim it through her instead?”  
  
 “Don’t you think I thought of that? My touch burned her and nearly killed her when I tried.” Here, Laufey paused and shook his head.  
  
“A mere touch had her skin blackening and her breathing nearly stopped. No. I cannot touch her. So it falls to you to make Asgard part of Jötunnheim.”  
  
Loki frowned at this revelation. So he was the only one that could touch her and turn his features into those of an Aesir. It was too convenient for that to happen. There had to be Aesir magic involved. There was simply no way that there wasn’t.  
  
“Besides, Asgard won’t see the claim as legitimate unless she breeds and bleeds for them.  Believe me when I say that I have tried to sire offspring onto that wretched race and it was all for naught. They would rise up against us and cause us to waste soldiers to quell a rebellion that can be avoided by you stepping in for me and doing your duty as the Crown Prince.”  
  
Loki nodded, pretending to mull the proposition over. But secretly, he was pleased that his plans were lining up, even if it felt like the Aesir had a hand in it as well.   
  
“Very well, I shall do as you command, my lord.”  
  
Laufey smiled grimly before he turned his back on his heir.   
  
“Start as soon as you can. We don’t have anymore time to lose.”  
  
  



	4. Who's Playing Who Here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Thora finally come to a mutually agreeable and beneficial situation, while trying to walk a tightrope between their own wants, their plans and their respective monarchies.

  
Thora   
  
She woke up gasping, her hand flying to her throat in the memory of Laufey’s fingers touching her and spreading frostbite into her body. She touched her throat gingerly and was surprised to find a bandage wrapped around it. Curious, she had just gotten her fingers underneath the fabric when she felt a warm hand encircle her wrist and gently stop her explorations.  
  
“It will scar if you uncover it too soon. Leave it.” She turned her head to look at who it was and winced at how the newly healed flesh pulled with the movement.  
  
“Aesir don’t scar.” She replied huskily. Loki smiled thinly in return. She swallowed and tried to delay the inevitable conversation that was to occur between them. Already, she could feel Loki’s determination to act. Like the charging electricity before a heavy storm, she could feel a similar pressure building within him.  
  
“How long was I unconscious?” She asked, in an effort to buy time to prepare herself for what was to come.   
  
Loki looked away to the window, calculating something from the green twilight he could see before he answered her.  
  
“Almost two weeks. It took me that long to heal the damage. So leave it be.”  
  
Thora blinked at that. Two weeks to heal what was a simple touch that would scar if she didn’t leave it alone? It scared her, despite not wanting to admit it, that a Jötunn touch had that much power to hurt. It also made her heart hurt, since she would never be able to touch anyone in Jötunnheim, if a mere brush of a hand put her so close to death.   
  
“Are you that deadly then? The Jötunn? That they can scar anyone’s flesh that badly? Even mine?”  
  
Loki looked down at the coverlet and nodded, making Thora blush once she realized she was wearing only a thin shift and the blankets were all that hid her nakedness from Loki. She swallowed and tried to will the discomfort away. Besides, it wasn’t as if he hadn't seen a naked female form before. He was a man and she could guess he was older than her and thus more experienced.   
  
“Everyone scars from a Frost Giant’s touch. We’re that poisonous to touch.” Loki replied neutrally. But despite keeping his voice even, Thora could hear the undercurrent of emotion bleeding through.  
  
Thora raised an eyebrow at Loki’s words.   
  
“All of you?”   
  
Loki grimaced. “We can usually control it..but sometimes, especially when we are in a state of heightened emotions…we can’t always control it.”  
  
Thora made a small “oh” sound before looking down at the richly woven cover she was lying under.   
  
“And sometimes, there can be spells laid on a person to negate our control.” Loki’s eyes flashed with a bright green fire as he leaned in closer. So close that he could see the dark grey flecks in her irises and how they lightened to an almost blue as they got closer to the pupil.  
  
“Your mother already had her long game in mind when she sent you here, didn’t she?”  
  
Thora blinked in confusion at his question and tried to pull away from Loki’s grip, which had grown stronger with every passing second and kept her still, no matter how much she struggled. Dimly, he could hear the howl of the wind as the gales picked up and sounds of thunder and lighting striking rock. He had heard them before, when she had been visited by his father and injured from his touch. He understood how much power she had then, how she was the mistress of her element, but he didn’t care.   
  
He had to know how much she knew and how much she was manipulating events to fall in the favour of the Aesir rather than the Jötunn. He needed to know so that their cross-purposes would dovetail neatly once he put his desires and his father’s orders in motion.   
  
“What are you talking about, Loki? Are you implying I knew that this would happen? That I’d willingly nearly kill myself to prove a point? And to whom was I supposed to be proving this point to?”  
  
Thora spat out, her struggles becoming more forceful as she tried to free herself from that implacable grip.   
  
“I don’t know that. I don’t know anything about you other than what I had seen two weeks ago.”  
  
Thora snorted. “You and I both know you’re lying about that. If I had just that small bit of information about your and your powers, I’m sure that you could compile a complete biography of who and what I am capable of doing. Especially now that you have spent that much time in my chamber. You’re a sorcerer. A skilled one at that. Don’t insult my intelligence.”  
  
Loki had to laugh at that. She was right. She may have been young and pure and slightly naive (he had to change his assessment of her earlier in regards to this) but she wasn’t a schemer from what he had found out about her. The seclusion she had been kept in as well as her youth guaranteed that she wouldn’t be a power in her own right, but simply a pawn. A figurehead.  
  
So Asgard was ready to rise against, it seemed. And they were desperate enough to throw their lot with the runt Crown Prince of Jötunnheim as well.   
  
“It seems that your lady mother made sure that only one specific Jötunn could touch you.” Loki told her, loosening his hold on her wrist. That gesture was enough for Thora to call back the thunder and no doubt lighting that accompanied it.   
  
Thora’s mouth thinned out at that and she was quiet as she mulled over the news.   
  
“It makes sense that she would. She is my mother after all and she wouldn't want for me to suffer more than I would have to.” Thora replied after several minutes of thinking it all over.  
  
Loki didn’t say anything to that, but his silence was enough of an answer to Thora. If it had been different, she was sure that Loki would have been quite vociferous in his protests. But he wasn’t and his grip tightened on her wrist again. He lowered his gaze and pulled away from her then.  
  
“Forgive me. I was out of line in insinuating that you would intentionally do such a spell upon yourself.”  
  
Thora nodded, but didn’t move from the spot that she has been pulled into. She wanted and needed to look at him. To make sure that her next move was the right one, since she had no more time to lose. She didn’t want to be imprisoned here any longer, and if Loki was amenable…it could very well get her back home.   
  
“Besides…if I am to be touched by any of your people, I’m thankful my mother had enough foresight to make it be only you.” Thora said, making Loki’s eyes get huge at her words.  
  
“You…don’t mind that I’m like this? A Jötunn runt? A Shapeshifter and a magician?” He asked, clearly off his guard after her comment.  
  
“No. I don’t mind. You healed my injuries and are with me here now. You didn’t have to be here. But yet, here you are and I refuse to believe that it is simply on your father’s orders or on your own initiative to keep an eye on the goods, so to speak. I know that we are political pawns here. But I am not adverse at the idea of becoming your Consort if it meant getting back to Asgard.”  
  
She had made the first move and laid out all her cards in the open. It was all up to him now.  
  
Loki  
  
She wasn’t subtle, that was for certain.  
  
But he could work with that, rather than scramble around a word maze to find the hidden meanings of her words and gestures.   
  
“Are you positive that is what you really want from me? We will be tied together for the rest of our lives.”  
  
Loki pointed out, feeling like he needed to be the voice of reason in this equation.   
  
Thora wrinkled her nose at the question. “I’m not stupid, Loki. I can put two and two together. If my mother had the foresight to only make you the one Jötunn to touch me without harming me, then it is obvious that you are the best choice to take the throne of Asgard.”  
  
“And you will be happy being a Consort in Asgard, when by rights, the throne should be yours alone?”  
  
Thora took some time before finally giving him a reply.   
  
“Would it really be a wise move to put an inexperienced girl on the throne? I know my limitations and I know my people. They would rather have you on the throne with me at your side, providing sons to take the throne after we are gone.”  
  
She wasn’t a great politician. But she was a planner even then and would become a formidable with guidance and tutoring…which was one of the things he was good at. Queen Frigga had been right to keep her in the shadows and manipulate circumstances so that both of them would be in the position to make it possible.   
  
“You do know what we have to do in order to make it legal, don’t you?” He asked, slackening his grip on her wrist and letting her pull her arm away. But not before he healed the redness he had caused by gripping her wrist. She smiled at him faintly before she looked into his eyes.  
  
“I know what is required of the both of us, yes.”  
  
Loki grimaced before he looked down at his hands, which hadn’t leached into blue just yet and remained Asgardian pale.  
  
“I’ll try to make it as painless as I know how.”  
  
Thora laughed quietly. “Now who’s being the blushing virgin here? I told you. I know what I have to do and I know what is required of me. So can we please start?”  
  
Loki nearly laughed at her bravado. She was afraid, he could smell it on her skin and by the slight scent of ozone in the air, but she also wasn’t going to show him that.   
  
“Later. You still need to heal the injury. I am many things, but bedding you right now would be severely crossing lines. No. Not today.”  
  
Thora’s eyes narrowed in anger and the ozone scent strengthened.   
  
“When will that be?”  
  
Loki smiled as he rose from the bed and walked to the door.   
  
“Sooner than you think. Now I will take my leave.”  
  
Loki replied, smiling widely before leaving Thora’s chamber.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Queen Frigga sat on the throne that her husband, the All Father had occupied. Her chin rested on her hand and she was lost in thought.   
  
She had already taken care of the matters of state for that day and had already planned her schedule for the next day. The lull in the day had provided ample opportunity for her mind to drift to her daughter’s well being.   
  
She had gotten regular reports of her daughter’s life from Jötunnheim, but they did little to assuage her fears. She knew what kind of beings the Jötunn were. She also knew what Laufey was capable of and wished that the peace she bought for her people hadn’t come at such a dear price.  
  
Her Thora. The Goddess of Thunder and her heir and the only reminder she had of her beloved, felled far too soon. She hadn’t wanted to give her up to Laufey, but they both knew that she had nothing left to gamble with except her daughter’s life. And as much as it had broken her heart, she was the Queen first and a mother second.   
  
She tightened her grip on Gugnir and wondered if she could tolerate waiting the expected three month interval before she demanded to visit her daughter when a messenger arrived.  
  
“My Queen. There have been news from Jötunnheim.”  
  
Frigga straightened up in her throne and looked at the courtier, waiting for him to deliver his news.   
  
“The Lady Thora is to become the Consort of the Crown Prince of Jötunnheim in a fortnight. You have been asked to attend the ceremony.”  
  
Frigga nodded, waving her hand in dismissal at the messenger.  
  
It was only when she was positive she was alone that she let a small, private smile flicker across her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have made it that the Frost Giants can be magically stopped from having control over their icing powers and I will touch on the fact that Thora is a quarter Jotunn.


	5. The Hardest Part Is Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Thora make good on their promises and the stakes get more complicated as one player bows out for the rest to continue.

Thora was caught completely off-guard when, after a week of silence, she was summoned to the court. Loki himself was the one that delivered the news, making her suspicious as to why he was the one acting as an envoy when a servant or a messenger could have served the same function.  
  
The robes, were also a dead give-away that something else was going on. She hadn’t seen him wear the richly embroidered Asgardian robes since the day that she had been brought from Asgard and she had to admit that the sight made her breath catch just a bit. She saw that Loki noticed, but if he ever would ask her, she would steadfastly deny it was because of the picture he presented, but because she was needing to catch her breath.  
  
“My father wants us to come to court. I am to escort you.” Were his words the minute that her door had swung open, startling her in the middle of a sword movement, causing her nearly to slice him if he hadn’t put up a defensive shield that her sword harmlessly bounced off of.  
  
“Why?” Thora had replied a bit sullenly. She was tired of being trapped in her room and was on tenterhooks trying to figure out if Loki really had agreed to her proposal or was simply toying around with her. She wanted to convince herself that she had made the right move and had not, as she often feared in the white nights she had; completely put herself under his power.  
  
“He’s making an official announcement about our betrothal to Jötunnheim. He wants to claim the throne legally, rather than by a bastard grandson that could be taken out of the line of succession if I happen to die in battle, or Gods forbid, by your hand.”  
  
Thora flushed crimson at the insinuation. “I keep my word, Crown Prince. I would not ever-”  
  
Loki raised a hand to forestall her anger. “Those are my father’s words. Not mine. I know that you would be more vulnerable as my widow than as my wife. As would any children that we’d produce.”  
  
Thora tried to swallow down the anger as an overwhelming panic overcame her when the conversation moved toward the question of children. She had wondered, in her sleepless and more hopeless nights, whether she even could have them. Loki grimaced when he saw her face go from scarlet to white in a matter of seconds and despite himself, hurried to give her comfort.  
  
“You are fertile.” Loki replied sharply as he took the sword from her unresisting hand and placed it carefully back into its scabbard before facing her again.  
  
“First thing I had to check when I touched you or else our plan would have been useless from the beginning. It also helps that Bestia, your father’s mother, was a Jötunn herself. That will give us better chances of having healthy children with me, rather than miscarriages which could possibly kill you.”  
  
He said the words in an off-hand, and almost clinical manner, but he was glad that he had found that information about her. He recalled how Angreborda had expired amongst blood and agony as she had brought forth Hel. Despite not having much love for her, it had shaken him to have seen that. Especially after the midwife had brought the baby to him and he had to keep his composure at seeing that blue-skinned, half dead child that had cost his first wife’s life.   
  
He didn’t want the same thing for Thora. He had been jolted awake one night, a scream locked in his throat and his hands clawing his fur covers as the images of Thora lying in a bloody bed, her lips blue with her body torn as her life left her and with nothing to show but a misshapen and monstrous stillbirth. He had come to her invisibly, when she was practicing her sword-skills, to reassure himself that it had all been a horrific nightmare. That it wouldn’t happen, since she was a quarter Jötunn, a little known fact that even Laufey himself had forgotten in his long ago struggle with the All Father.   
  
“Oh. Well. Then I guess we can’t keep the King waiting.” She returned, the fight having gone out of her with her relief. She was at a loss as to how to act after getting those news, so she fell back on formalities.   
  
Loki nodded, feeling the same way. He knew that it was something that they would have had to discuss, and it wasn’t an easy conversation to have. But utterly necessary if they were to build a dynasty in order to eventually have a kingdom of their own, rather than be vassals permanently.   
  
“Dress like the princess everyone sees you at, rather than the warrior I know you are.” Loki instructed her, making her look sharply at him as she walked to her wardrobe and looked at the gowns inside.   
  
“Wear the red one. With all the silver.” Loki instructed, pulling out the gown in question, which was made in the same way as the one that he had seen her in, but was more heavily decorated, with a repeating pattern of intricate knots picked out in silver and white thread all over. She could see that it would match perfectly with her dowry jewellery and was thankful he had an eye for presentation, since she had none.   
  
“And bring Mjölnir, since it is also part of your dowry as well.”  
  
Loki explained, heading out.   
  
“I’ll send our thralls to help you. I will be back once they are done making you look like the Queen you will be. We need to impress that connection to the court and make them remember that despite everything, you are Odinsdottir and fit to be more than a concubine, as many of them wish for you to be.”  
  
With that, he exited, leaving the door open to allow a timid bevy of women, prisoners like her, to come in.   
  
Thora watched him go and the women come in and wondered whether she had been wrong to doubt him after all.  
  
Loki  
  
Loki was pleased that his gamble was paying off. Thora was magnificent in her finery and the addition of Mjölnir at her hip was enough to make even the most insolent of Jötunn be silent.   
  
They could only stare at her as she walked beside him, Mjölnir easily swinging from her silver and ruby belt with every step she took, the hammer representing her power over the elements and a formidable weapon in its own right. No one else, except the daughter of Odin could lift.   
  
And it would anger them and fill them with jealousy that he, the runt Crown Prince of the Jötunn, had managed to possess both the Spoils of Asgard and Mjölnir. Loki had to be careful to not let the smugness he felt at his triumph show too clearly on his face. He had bested them all and they would know it the minute that it was announced to all of them. Even his father was pleased, he could see the glimmer of it in his dark red eyes as he watched them approach his throne.  
  
That was the moment Loki had been waiting for. To have Laufey acknowledge that he had done right and had succeeded where he himself had failed. It honestly felt good and Loki knew that once he was the King of Asgard, it would be even more so.   
  
They didn’t get much fanfare. The Jötunn believed in overt displays in battle only. So it was a simple announcement that was made in regards to Thora and Loki’s betrothal. They would let Asgard come up with the appropriate level of pomp and circumstance for the occasion. Despite wanting it, Loki simply basked in the silence and knowledge that he had bested all of them.  
  
The only thing that cast a tarnish on his triumph was when he had sat Thora in the place of honour, his father called him aside. Leaving her alone, he followed his father out.  
  
“Is she breeding yet?” Was the first thing that Laufey asked once they were assured of privacy, making Loki flinch inwardly at the crassness of the question.  
  
“I felt it was more important to legally bind her to me before we slip in the surprise. Asgard wouldn’t forgive us if we presented a bastard as Asgard’s heir. I’m trying to cover all the probabilities that I can.”   
  
Loki replied smoothly, hiding any probably evidence that he had even been caught unawares by his father’s question.   
  
Laufey grunted, then smiled at his oldest son, showing wickedly sharp teeth as he did so.   
  
“Very clever of you to do so. But a throne cannot be held without a successor. Always remember that. Now go. Enjoy the feast. It will probably be the last one you enjoy in a long while.”  
  
Thora  
  
She knew from the way that his hand lingered on her arm that he was planning something. He doesn’t let het go even after they have entered her chamber and she noticed that he had cast a spell over the locked doors. She could see the runes glow as he traced them above the door and the rest of the cardinal points and she was curious about them. She hadn’t ever seen him do that before, so seeing it now made her instincts go into overdrive.  
  
“What are they?” She asked him as he finally let her go before starting to strip his ceremonial robes off and draping neatly on the back of the chair she loved to curl up on. She in turn, had taken Mjolnir off her belt and replaced it carefully in the chest that held all of her dowry.  
  
“Something to make sure that there aren’t any unpleasant surprises tonight.” Loki replied evasively, turning toward her when he was only dressed in a plain under tunic and trousers  
  
Thora’s breath hitched in her throat when she saw him moving, her pulse speeding up as her blood hummed through her veins. He moved close, much closer than he had ever been before and cupped her face between his hands.  
  
The first kiss tasted like wintergreen and ice and oddly enough, lingonberries. The mixture is not what she expected, but it makes her heart beat faster and takes her breath away. She’s pliant and her body moved out of its own accord to press against his. She craved the touch of his flesh against hers, she realized as she wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth wider to let him taste her.  
  
She was so lost in the kiss that she missed his hands roving all over her body, pulling and loosening ties until her dress fell in a puddle at her feet and he directed her to the bed that wasn’t too far behind her. She grunted slightly when they fell on the bed, his weight pressing down on her and making her break the kiss to gasp for air. He raised himself off of her and made quick work of his clothes, leaving them both naked and finally touching every inch of each other without the barrier of clothes between them.  
  
She made a small sound in her throat at the feel of his slightly cool body and looked at him. Loki only smiled at her, a secretive smile that was slightly sinister when the illusion of his Aesir looks faded and the red of his eyes showed through the green. Thora’s eyes widened and she was about to either pull away or speak when Loki’s hand started to stroke the inside of her thigh. She gasped and closed her eyes, biting her lip as his fingers touched the softest part of her thigh and made her legs splay apart for him.  
  
She hadn’t ever been touched so intimately before and her body had become pliant to his touches. Loki grinned and got closer to her folds, stroking the outside lips with feather light touches until Thora moaned and pressed herself against his hand, allowing him more access. Loki took the opportunity and carefully stroked his way inside her, marvelling at the heat and velvet softness of her.   
  
She was moaning as he caressed her, but the moans turned to throaty cries when he found the fleshy nub of her clit. Carefully, he pressed down on it and began to move his finger. Softly at first, with small pressure and then pressing down and faster, moving in a circular motion until she was shuddering and screaming, her release coming in a gush of musky sharpness that went directly to his cock and nearly made him cry out in pain.  
  
He had never been that aroused by a woman before. Not even the first maiden he had desired had made him feel that level of arousal. He wanted her. Wanted her and needed to bury himself into her body like he had never wanted to be with anyone in his life.   
  
He crawled over her unresisting body until he was above her again, with his cock nudging her and leaving traces of pre come on her thighs as he drew himself up into the position to take her. Loki kissed her mouth, leaving a trail of wet kisses all the way down to the juncture of her neck and shoulder. He nipped her lightly, careful to not break the skin. Despite the physical changes, his teeth were still sharp enough to break her skin easily.  
  
He couldn’t say anything as he nudged his cock to her entrance. She was already wet and as hot as a furnace and it was all he could do to not bury himself in one thrust. He kissed her shoulder and bit her again, this time breaking the skin as he entered her half way.  
  
She cried out and tried to move away from him, but he held her in place until she was used to having him inside. It was only when she stopped struggling that he breached her and was completely sheathed inside of her. She was silent, but he could feel a slight dampness where he was holding her face.   
  
He had told her it would hurt and she had been prepared for pain. She was used to pain. But not this kind of agony that felt as if her insides were being ripped apart and reconfigured at the same time. As if she was being rearranged to give him a place inside of her. It was passing as her body accommodated him, but it was still shocking.  
  
“It will get better.” He murmured once he had enough presence of mind to speak. She only sighed in reply and he began to thrust. Slowly at first, and then picking up speed as she began to cry out and moan as the pain gave way to pleasure.   
  
She was lost in it, how it coiled deep in her as Loki moved inside of her. This release was different than the last one, since it ached and throbbed and left her deliciously sore. The soreness was compounded when Loki thrust brutally, almost painfully into her and spilled. He collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily.   
  
He pulled away from her before the weight of him was too much to bear, careful to not hurt her as he moved and put his hand on her abdomen. She had her eyes closed, but she could feel the light touches as they traced a pattern on her skin.   
  
“What are you doing?” She roused herself enough to ask him.  
  
“Pushing the odds a bit more in our favour.” Loki replied before he roused himself from the bed and went to the small chamber were she bathed. He returned with a bowl of water, a cloth and soap and cleaned both of them up, his touches lacking any sensuality as he focused on the task.  
  
When he was done, Thora crawled under the covers and prepared to go to sleep alone. She didn’t want to think about what she had just done. Despite wanting it and being prepared for it, she didn’t know exactly how to feel about it now that it was finished. It was simply another task that had to be fulfilled and Loki had kept his part of the bargain.  
  
Just like she had fulfilled hers. That was all she would dare to hold in her mind, lest she start reading too much into his actions, something her mother had warned her against years and years prior. _  
  
“Take things as they come, Thora. Do not try to make anything than what it really is and that will save you quite a bit of grief.”_  
  
She closed her eyes and was just about to fall asleep when she felt the covers move and Loki’s body curl up behind hers, his knees tucked up behind hers and his chest flush against her back.  
  
“What?” She managed to ask sleepily before Loki silenced her with a kiss on the temple.  
  
“Sleep. I’ll be right here with you. Now sleep.”  
  
Thora nodded and did as she was told, glad that she wasn’t sleeping alone tonight of all nights.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Frigga didn’t turn around when she sensed him in the solar, even though Hugin and Munnin stirred. Geri and Freki growled, but didn’t attack. They recognized him well enough as the father of their most powerful member. So they kept a respectful distance from him.  
  
“I’m surprised that you have come. You always have ignored any of my summons.”  
  
Frigga said as she turned to look at Loki, who was standing in the middle of the room, dressed in his Asgardian robes and looking every inch like one, with his pale skin, black hair and green eyes. It unnerved her that he could look like that, but she didn’t show it. She was glad that he looked like an Aesir. It would make everything easier in the long run.  
  
Loki shrugged. “They weren’t worth my time. At least, not until now.”  
  
Frigga’s eyes narrowed at that. “What has happened to change your mind?”  
  
Loki smiled, but it was a smile edged with razors that made her skin crawl.   
  
“Thora is six months gone with our child. You have your heir. So when do my wife and I get our throne?”  
  
Frigga remained silent for a very long time as she stared at her son-in-law in a new light. He hadn’t claimed the throne of Asgard only for himself and had laid claim to the child, rather than simply stating that it was her daughter’s. She couldn’t read his face well enough to truly know of what he felt for her daughter, but he had given himself away enough through his words.  
  
He had been a risky gamble on her part, but it looked like the strategy had worked for a better benefit to her daughter than she had ever dared to hope.   
  
“Winter Solstice, the throne is yours and all that comes with it.”  
  
Loki’s mouth curved up into that sharp smile before he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a cloud of green mist.  
  
Frigga shook her head and turned back to the window.   
  
Her plan was now finished. It was up to Loki and Thora to continue it.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be one more chapter to conclude what exactly is being planned by all parties and to get both Loki's and Thora's feelings towards each other and their obligations to come. Also, I'm curious as to how Loki and Thora see each other after they are so close to fulfilling their goals.


	6. Logic will never trump love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Asgard has their treasure back and a new king, Laufey demands a higher price for peace. One that Frigga is willing to pay, but Thora cannot. And surprisingly enough, neither will Loki. Even if it means never setting foot back in Jotunheim and committing treason. But then, he'll deal with that when the time comes, because he always has a plan and now, he has an ally to help him put it in motion.

Bylestir and Helbindi stood by their father and watched as Loki took the crown of Asgard and pledged to protect the realm at any cost. The Spoils of Asgard stood beside him and watched him with barely concealed pride as he accepted Gugnir from the erstwhile Queen of Asgard.  
  
“He’s become like them now.” Helbindi muttered, disgust lacing his words as he spoke.  
  
“I agree, but don’t let father hear you. He is the crown prince after all. Even if he is a runt.” Bylestir replied, his voice calmer, but still carrying an undercurrent of contempt.  
  
“Will he still be the Crown Prince, even after taking Asgard?”  
  
Bylestir shrugged at the question. “I suppose he would be, since Asgard is still a vassal state.”

  
Helbindi laughed hollowly at that. “Do you think Loki will be content to have it so? He’s not one to be content to simply just be doing father’s bidding for the rest of his life?”  
  
Bylestir looked at his brother sharply. “Would you?”  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Frigga faced Laufey after the coronation as they met in the solar and she couldn’t help but to be reminded of the earlier conversation she had with the Jötunn’s son. She wondered idly if they knew how much they mirrored each other, despite wearing different skins. They truly were each other’s blood and that similarity was the one thing that had given her a precious edge in diplomatic relations.  
  
“Your daughter has come back to Asgard, unharmed.” Laufey opened the negotiations. They didn’t have conversations. They only parried each other’s demands and forced concessions on each other and Frigga never forgot that.   
  
“As has your son, who will rule. You have gotten the better bargain here.” Frigga pointed out smoothly.  
  
Laufey smiled faintly at that. “Would you call it a bargain when I know how easily you can twist this into a rebellion? No. I require more than just having my son on the throne.”  
  
Frigga’s throat tightened as she tried to force her anger down at what she knew he was going to suggest.   
  
“When the child comes of age. No sooner.”  
  
Laufey shook his head. “Not when it is male. So your daughter better hope she’s breeding a useless woman like herself. You know what the penalty will be if she refuses.”  
  
Frigga nodded sharply. Laufey’s smile got wider and nearly froze her to the bone in its chilling malice.  
  
“I’m glad we understand each other, Lady Frigga.”  
  
 _Loki_  
  
Loki looked at his wife as she knelt to receive the crown of Asgard. Her pregnancy was hidden by the heavy fur robe that she had worn as she had been taken as prize of war and was now clothing the Queen of Asgard. Her head was bowed and her eyes closed, and he felt the blood rush through his body at the sight.  
  
Just like he had been struck with her purity the first time he had seen her, he was now struck by how she had quickly matured into a strong and capable woman. Even though she was very close to giving birth to a son (he had tipped that outcome in his favour and would do so again when she would be willing to carry another child) she looked radiant.   
  
And strong and ready for battle.  
  
But that had to wait until the child was weaned. And that would give them plenty of time to shore up their armies and make pacts and deals.   
  
But for now, they had a part to play, so he waited and watched as Frigga placed the golden circlet decorated with moonstones upon her daughter’s head and bid her rise to stand as an equal consort beside her husband. Frigga herself would become their council and leave them to rule.   
  
The People of Asgard cheered as Loki helped his wife up to her feet and held her close to him, even though he truly didn’t have to. He had already heard some fools say that it was all for show. That he didn’t have enough of a heart to really feel anything for his wife other than pride at having had captured and tamed Odinsdottir. He remembered these whispers and made sure to deal with them when the time presented itself.  
  
She wasn’t Odinsdottir any longer, but his wife, a Laufeysson. His queen and the mother of his heirs. And when the time came, his general as well.   
  
They were right. He didn’t have to have her by his side. But he found that he wanted her beside him always. Maybe he was getting to be a sentimental idiot now that he had everything that he desired: A kingdom of his own, a queen and an heir. He didn’t know.   
  
All he knew, when he stayed up long after he had taken care of the duties of his new kingdom was that somewhere along the way, he had done more than his father had commanded him. He had lost his heart to her in ways that he hadn’t lost it to anyone and he was still trying to understand how that happened.   
  
One minute, she was his pawn and his way out of a frozen land that had rejected him for his perceived imperfections and the next, he was lying buried in her flesh with her summer scent soaking into his skin that barely turned blue any longer.   
  
He wondered if it was because they were losing their individuality. That they had become so intertwined that they were bleeding so much into each other that they had become more than the sum of their parts.   
  
If that was the case, he mused as he held his wife’s hand, what had bled into her of him?  
  
 _Thora_  
  
“How does your triumph feel?” Loki murmured in her ear as they sat on the Thrones of Asgard and watched the feasts laid out in their honour. She could see her people, happy and healthy and celebrating her return and her marriage to an Aesir. One of them, rather than a Jötunn, since Loki’s new form hadn’t bled out ever since she had conceived.   
  
She knew instinctively, that it was the child that had bonded them like so and had strengthened his grip on his Aesir form. She still wasn't sure what she thought of that, since she did like his blue skin and the way that his eyes would glow like banked coals when he looked at her with desire right before burying his face or cock into her.   
  
But it wasn’t just the physical, although she loved and craved his touch upon her body badly. No. It wasn’t just that. It was also how he had finally started to trust her and see her as a capable ally, rather than a pawn.  
  
She wasn’t going to lie to herself and say that wasn’t the case. They had entered into an alliance to fulfill their goals and somewhere along…maybe it had been when she had woken up beside him for the twelfth time. Or maybe it had been when he had patiently started to explain court politics and alliances to her and he had looked at her with an expression she hadn’t seen on anyone’s face before that it was finally obvious to her.   
  
“Thora?” How does it feel?” He murmured again, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear as he spoke.   
  
She turned to look at him and smiled. “Fantastic, but it will be even better when we are no longer a vassal state and our own kingdom.”  
  
Loki’s eyes narrowed and flashed a bright red before returning to their original colour.   
  
“You do know the cost of that.” Loki replied, his gaze calculating as he looked at her.  
  
“I know. But that won’t be for now. Not until we have enough strength and allies behind us will that be an option.”  
  
Loki smiled faintly. “You have plans?”  
  
Thora laughed quietly. “Don’t you?”  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
“I won’t hand my child over! I don’t care what it costs! I won’t give up my child!” Thora shouted, making thunder and lighting crash down onto Asgard.   
  
“I know that it is hard to do. But if we are to keep the peace, that is what must be done.”  
  
Frigga soothed her daughter, who shook her head.  
  
“I can’t, mother. I’d rather lead our armies against him and kill him once and for all rather than give up my child to die, because that is what Laufey will do. Kill our son to keep Loki and I in line and you know that all too well.”  
  
Frigga knew that Thora spoke the truth, but she didn’t think that going to war was the right course of action at that time.  
  
“There is a chance that it will be a daughter. It’s not written in stone that it is a boy.”  
  
Thora shook her head, her face pale as she fought to keep her composure.  
  
“Loki is a sorcerer. He knew I was with child before I did and has always referred to it as our son. I won’t give him up.”  
  
Frigga’s patience snapped. “We can’t afford war! We haven’t the troops. We haven’t the leaders yet! Do you think you will lead men to battle when you are close to giving birth? Don’t you think I know the pain you are going through? I had to give up my only child for peace!”  
  
“Yes. I am aware of the cost that you paid for peace. But I cannot pay it when it is not only my decision to make.”  
  
Frigga’s eyes narrowed at her daughter’s words.   
  
“He’s not _our_ king, Thora. He is not the one to be making these decisions.”  
  
Thora looked at her mother and shook her head.   
  
“He _is_ my husband and the father of _my_ child. He is my co-ruler and will have a say in the decisions made, or was that not the reason for our coronation this day?”  
  
Silence was her only answer and she nodded before lowering her gaze at her mother before leaving Frigga to contemplate how she would have to play the game now that her pieces had gained a backbone and independence.  
  
She didn’t get that far though, when she crumpled to her knees with a high cry of pain, making Frigga forget the game of politics and rush to her daughter.  
  
“He’s coming now, isn’t he?” She asked as she grabbed her daughter’s hand and pulled her to her feet. They needed to get to a chamber fast before she gave birth in the study.  
  
She also needed room to work, since the child was early and she instantly regretted pushing her daughter. She had forgotten that even though Thora was strong, she had her limits and she had pushed too far.   
  
 “It’s too soon and there’s no way to stop him coming, is there?” Thora whispered, her face crumpling in agony as she clutched at her belly.  
  
Frigga shook her head. “I’m afraid not, my daughter.”  
  
 _Loki_  
  
“Where is she?” He asked Frigga, who had exited the chamber that had once been Thora’s.  There were guards stationed outside the room, but he didn’t give them a second glance. He was fighting to keep his composure and anxiety at bay and all he was concerned with was knowing if Thora was safe along with the child or if he was yet again a widower with another motherless child to take care of.  
  
He had been looking for her, wanting and needing her beside him and had been luckily found by a messenger boy that Frigga had sent to find him.  Now he was here, with fear churning in his gut as he waited for Frigga to tell him whether Thora and the child lived.  
  
Frigga looked at him sharply and pulled him into the room to show him that his wife was safe. They had to move quickly now that the child had been born. She walked to the bed and he followed her, his breath catching in his throat when he looked down and saw Thora sleeping peacefully.  
  
“It’s a boy. Like you had hoped for.” Frigga informed him as she bent down to pick up a sleeping baby swaddled in cloth.  
  
Loki had to swallow hard to keep his emotions in check as he looked at his son. He was an Aesir, with pale skin and his dark hair and smooth skin. He had to admit that he was glad of it. The less his son took after the Jötunn, the better it would be for him and Thora if Loki were to die.    
  
They would forget the sire, but always remember the beauty and strength of the mother.  
  
“Laufey wants him. To take the place of Thora and she will not give him up. Nor will she do anything without your consent. So I am asking you to agree, so we can avoid war.”  
  
Loki’s face went from snow white, to pale blue and back again as he listened to what Frigga said.   
  
He would have agreed with her before, when they were playing the long game and Thora was nothing more than another piece on the board. He tried to summon up that cold pragmatism that had been part of everything that he had done and found that it was gone. Like ice, it had melted in the inexorable warmth of Thora’s love and acceptance of him.  
  
And there was nothing anyone or any of the Gods could do that would make him give up the proof of this love. He’d risk a war. He'd risk contempt. He’d…  
  
He shook his head as he took his son from her and held him protectively against his chest.   
  
“Then we find another way. I’m not giving my son up to Jötunnheim.”  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
“Where is he?” Laufey demanded of Loki the minute that Loki entered the throne room, his expression calm and non-plussed at seeing his father and brothers there despite the early hour.  
  
“Nursing on his mother’s breast as he should be.” Loki replied coolly, stopping only to look at his father.  
  
“I have the throne, father. Thora belongs to Jötunnheim in all but name. Our bargain’s fulfilled. I am not giving up my son to the tender mercies of our court.”  
  
“He is my grandchild, Loki. He wouldn’t be ill-treated.”  
  
Loki smiled bitterly. “Maybe not. But I’m sure that if I or his mother strayed from the places on the board you want us in, that you wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.”  
  
“That is how the game works. I brought Asgard to its knees, so I am owed its greatest treasure, that now being Thorasson.”  
  
Loki’s eyes narrowed. “He’s Lokisson, father. He is mine. And he will stay here. As will I and his mother.”  
  
“It is treason, what you are doing.  And one step closer to war. Is Odindottir’s cunt that sweet you’d risk war over a mewling half-breed useless for anything but being a pawn like his mother?”  
  
Loki smiled and said nothing. He didn’t need to, since Thora’s answer came in the shape of Mjölnir splitting the very air and lighting frying it.   
  
Bylestir and Helbindi saw the Goddes of Thunder and decided to wait and see how the tableau would play out. Even though she had just given birth and was pale, she was still a formidable sight in her armour and Mjölnir in her hand.  
  
This distracted Laufey and his sons with enough time for Loki to employ Gugnir on his father.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Loki whispered before he drove the spear into the soft part of Laufey’s throat and into his brain.  
  
End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An extra chapter for a story that basically ate my brain. I wanted to end it to show how far both Thora and Loki had come and how they would work in a tandem. I also admit that I was slightly influenced by the Tales of the Otori, but this is not based on it. I also did bring in Loki's brothers, since they had been a bit absent and to get a bit of foreshadowing going on. I also had it moving at a quick pace because I wanted to show how things change in a blink of an eye and how people react and adapt to the changes and what decisions they make because of them. And yes, Thora in my mind IS that tough. Cheers!


	7. The Victor and The Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> King Loki is only too glad to return to Asgard and his Queen after a long and difficult campaign to subdue the Trolls and balance Jotunheim's political stability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue that I wasn't sure I was going to write, but I was inspired and hey presto. Closure for all. Cheers and enjoy!

Epilogue  
  
It almost felt like the first time he had ever set foot on Asgard. The Bifrost hadn’t changed and the palace was still as resplendent as he remembered. Even more so, now that Asgard had been freed from its vassal state status.  
  
Even the Troll wars hadn’t diminished its splendour and he was glad that he could come home to this. He still loved his birthplace, but Asgard was home and he always felt relieved whenever he was able to come back to it and to her.  
  
Thora, as usual, was waiting for him at the end of the Bifrost. But instead of being clad in a dress as befitting her status as the Queen of Asgard, she was clad in battered armour and had Mjolnir in one hand. With the other, she held the hand of Vali, their youngest while Modi stood behind his little brother. Their youngest, Magni, was in his grandmother’s arms.  
  
If his steps were slightly faster now that he had seen his family, he would deny it if questioned. The Troll Wars had been a hard campaign and having to stay with the council in Jotunheim had made his usual sojourn longer than he had previously thought. Magni had just been several months old when he had departed.  
  
And now, he was old enough to look at him warily, since he didn't recognize him. It had been too long since he had been separated from Thora and his sons.   
  
He wanted to be there with them, but until he could manipulate the Jotun Council and trust Helbindi enough to hand over the throne of Jotunheim as was his plan, he didn't dare leave his homeland unattended. He wasn't going to make the mistake that his own father had made in thinking himself invincible. Anyone could fall, he had learned that lesson even as he ended his father's life.   
  
He was determined to not fall any time soon.  
  
He didn't want to leave a Regency.   
  
Nor did he want to leave Thora. That went without saying.   
  
"It is good to see you come back, my lord." Thora greeted him as she knelt before him as a warrior. He hated that she had to do that, but when he had tried to put an end to it, she had come close to taking his head off with Mjolnir.  
  
"You aren't my servant, Thora." He had tried to explain in the privacy of their chambers later on. "I don't want you to kneel before me whenever I get home from a campaign."  
  
Thora's mouth had twisted into a snarl and she had nearly made Vali, who was nursing, cry at this point with her vehemence. She had had to visibly calm herself down and shush Vali before she was able to speak to him.  
  
"It isn't about weakness. But rather how they see _me_ , Loki. If they see me as a capable warrior holding the throne for you and our children, the easier it will be to place Modi on the throne when we are gone. They won't pull support for him in favour of someone older if they remember that even though his Jotun father was gone, his Aesir mother fought and held the throne without help."  
  
Loki's mouth had thinned at those news. He thought he had solved that problem by officially making Thora his Regent when he was gone on the campaigns he had to undertake once it was known that Laufey was dead at his hands.   
"So being my Regent makes you look weak? But being seen as a warrior taking the knee for me makes you seem capable to these people?"  
  
Thora had smiled bitterly then. "My gender precedes me and I have to show more strength and capability to keep a throne for our children for a throne that is rightfully mine to pass on."  
  
He had understood then, but that didn't mean he had to like it.   
  
So he had simply bit the inside of his cheek and accepted her fealty every time and promised himself that if they had a daughter together, he wouldn't let her gender be used against her. Hel had a kingdom. He would make sure that his and Thora's daughter would have the same.  
  
"It is good to be back, my Queen." He replied as Thora straightened up and brought their children forth to see him.  
  
"Will you be staying this time?" Modi asked, his green eyes bright with hope as he climbed up his father.  
  
"I hope so, Modi. It all depends on the other realms." He explained to his son as he hefted him up and settled him on his hip. Thora smiled and did the same with Vali after she had finished hooking Mjolnir to her belt.  
  
"Your father will stay, Modi, if that is the case. Vali, say hi to your father. And Loki, look at Magni." Thora replied, catching her husband's eyes.  
  
Loki understood that look and tried to not contain his pleasure at knowing that Thora had settled the last war without him.  
  
"He's gotten bigger, father! But he's still not speaking yet." Modi informed him as Loki moved closer to Vali and Magni, who Thora had taken from her mother to show Loki.  
  
"Give him time. Vali was the same and look at him now." Loki assured him as he smiled at Vali, who had his mother's dark grey eyes and his own black hair and was shy. Very shy like he had been at that age.    
  
Modi looked skeptical, but decided to take his father's words to heart as he looked at his youngest brother, who stared back with dark brown eyes that had more of his grandmother than his father or mother.   
  
"I guess. But I don't want anymore little brothers. Can you make sure of that now that you're here?"   
  
Frigga snorted and Thora's face went white at that comment.  
  
"We'll see about that, dear. Now come down and let your parents have some time along before the feast.  I'm sure that they have many things to talk about."  
  
Frigga thankfully broke in, taking Magni back and signalling to Loki and Thora that it was all right to put their other children down and leave them in her care.   
  
Guards escorted them back, leaving Loki and Thora alone.  
  
"Chambers. Now." Thora had said to him. Loki didn't waste time teleporting them there.  
  
"He hadn't put it together yet, has he?" Loki murmured as he embraced his wife and kissed her hungrily. He had missed the taste of her, the feel of her too much. He had them both naked in no time and was pressing her down on the bed before she could even really formulate an answer.  
  
"Not yet, thank the gods. He will soon enough if the peace holds." Thora murmured and cried out when Loki kissed a wet trail down her body, lingering at every bruise and contusion that he found before kissing her between her legs.  
"It will." Loki murmured, sucking gently on her clit and making her give out a harsh, throaty groan at the sensation. He could hear her scrabble for purchase as he swirled his tongue on the swollen bud before licking stripes up and down her folds and then fucking her with his tongue. This made her jerk her hips up into his face with enough force to make him grasp her hips and pin her down before she broke his nose.   
  
Although it was flattering, he didn't relish the pain of having such an injury. Especially since everyone would know how he had come by it in the first place. He didn't care that they knew, but  some factions would use that as proof as to why Thora was unfit to rule and he didn't want them using her sexuality as another reason to discredit the work she had done for Asgard.  
  
He pushed the thoughts out of his head when he realized that she was starting to come down from his administrations, which had started to get slow and careless. He focused on her, her taste, the way that the velvety skin of her lower lips felt on his tongue and lips, the way that she mewled or moaned whenever he tasted deep inside of her. Soon enough,she was again pliant and on the verge of falling apart at his mouth. He continued licking her until she was babbling incoherently and it was then that he slid two fingers into her and crooked them just right to touch that rough spot inside her.  
  
He only had to stroke it two, three times before she shouted and trickled all over him, leaving his fingers and face wet with her musky lemon scent.  
  
"You have made sure of it." He whispered, licking the last traces of her away before letting go of her hips and making his way back up her body.  
  
She only whimpered a reply, her brain having overloaded at the pleasure she had just received.   
  
"Good." She replied drowsily. Her eyes were close to sliding shut when Loki entered her roughly without any warning.  
  
"It isn't time yet, my queen. Not until I have made you hoarse and unable to walk properly will you sleep." Loki promised in a voice roughened by desire and need.   
  
"I've missed you too much, Thora." He murmured as he snapped his hips, driving himself into her. Thora cried out again, but this time, thunder and lighting rang out also.   
  
"I know. As have I."  
  
Loki grinned as he leaned down to kiss her again.  
  
That was the end of their conversation for that night.  
  
End.


End file.
